Today is Monday, which is unfortunate. However, director Bryan Singer feels your pain, so he’s chosen today to unveil the very first look at a new mutant from X-Men: Apocalypse. Production on the Days of Future Past follow-up begins today, and to mark the occasion, Singer has revealed the concept design for the film’s Nightcrawler, who will be played by Let Me In and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes actor Kodi Smit-McPhee.
It’s an admittedly brief and early look at the character, but this is the first time the "prequel franchise" has tackled a younger iteration of a mutant from Singer's original X-Men films since the initial casting of X-Men: First Class (or, to a lesser extent, the Toad cameo in DOFP). Since it appears to be a concept image and not Smit-McPhee in actual makeup, it’s tough to spot any significant differences from Alan Cumming’s version of the character, but it’s possible that’s the point.
Regardless, X-Men: Apocalypse will be introducing us to a slew of new young mutants, as the 80s-set sequel also stars Tye Sheridan (Mud) as Cyclops, Sophie Turner (Game of Thrones) as Jean Grey, and Alexandra Shipp as Storm.
This Nightcrawler preview isn’t dissimilar from Singer’s approach to social media during the filming of Days of Future Past, and if his bevy of official set photos and teases from that film is any indication, we have many, many more of these to look forward to.
Check out Singer’s tease of Nightcrawler below, via Singer's Instagram, as well as another photo tease from producer/writer Simon Kinberg. X-Men: Apocalypse also stars Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, James McAvoy, Nicholas Hoult, Olivia Munn, Rose Byrne, Ben Hardy, Lucas Till, and Oscar Isaac. The film opens in theaters on May 27, 2016.
To catch up on our recent X-Men: Apocalypse, peruse the recent links below:
- X-MEN: APOCALYPSE Adds Lucas Till
- X-MEN: APOCALYPSE: Olivia Munn Is Psylocke
- X-MEN: APOCALYPSE Concept Art Teases Archangel
- X-MEN: APOCALYPSE Adds Jubilee to Ensemble; Potential Cameos Revealed
- Jennifer Lawrence Says APOCALYPSE Will Be Her Last X-MEN Movie